Hateful or discriminatory?

Two words that eBay have applied to me trying to sell this board game on their web site. They removed the item about five minutes before it was due to sell (for about £18, thanks).

The reason? Can you guess?

According to eBay themselves, "You're not allowed to list items that promote or glorify hatred, violence or racial intolerance, or items that promote organisations with such views on eBay."

Ah, so that would be the hatred, violence and racial intolerance promoted by Escape From Colditz, the 1970s children's board game devised by Major Pat Reid, British war hero and former prisoner of war and sold successfully by Parker for a decade or so. The hatred, violence and racial intolerance endemic in educating a younger generation about WWII and the treatment of prisoners in one of the world's most notorious high security war camps.

Hatred, violence and racial intolerance in a board game? Hmmm... maybe they should come 'round to my house at Christmas. Those Trivial Pursuit sessions can get quite heated.

Could it be what they're actually offended by is the appearance of the Swastika symbol on the game? The Swastika, for those who don't know, had been around for centuries before it was appropriated for use by the Nazis and generally means "luck" or "victory".

Are we to assume therefore that the simple use of the Swastika, even in context, is considered offensive?

No, eBay doesn't seem to think so. Look at all the other Nazi memorabilia and merchandise you can buy. Literally thousands of items at the time of writing: http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38&_nkw=nazi&_sacat=See-All-Categories

But, of course, they'll happily remove your item if some knee-jerk, ill-educated idiot decides to complain. And will they apologise for whipping off my auction without warning or deliberation? Will they sausages.

In the mean time, there are still plenty of opportunities to buy Call Of Duty, God Of War and Grand Theft auto on eBay, kids! Forget learning about real people who fought real wars, or boring old board games. Not when you can shoot some pixellated kraut right in his fucking face, dude!

eBay - you need to revisit this policy. You're in danger of looking like reactionary buffoons. You know, the kind that thrived quite well in Germany in 1938.